Adjustable rail-breaking clamp



J. E. BUSBY ADJUSTABLE RAIL {BREAKING CLAMP Filed May 26, 1923 ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 27, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IUNIUS E. BUSBY, OF HAZARD, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR- OF ONE-HALF T0 BENTON R. COOPER, OF CQVINGT'ON, KENTUCKY.

ADJUSTABLE RAIL-BREAKING CLAMP.

Application filed May 26, 1923.

To all whom it 'IItCtjJ/ concern:

Be it known that I, JUNIUs E. BUsBY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hazard, in the county of Perry and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Rail- Breaking Clan'ips, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to means for break-- ing or bending railroad rails, and particularly to certain improven'ients in the. rail breaking clamp disclosed in my application Serial No. 569,232, filed June 19, 1922.

In railroad construction, rail sections of different lengths are used and these rail sec tions are usually made by bending and breaking standard railroad rails.

The general object of my invention is to provide a clamp for this purpose which is adapted to engage with and be bound tightly upon a track rail, and which is also formed to engage with and bind tightly upon a rail section which is to be bent or broken so that one portion of the rail section may be held rigidly while the other portion is bent or while it is being out.

A further objectis to provide a. device of this character which is adjustable to different size-d supporting or track rails.

A still. further object is to provide a de vice of this character in which the filler blocks are held positively in place against any shifting movement whereby to prevent the rail that is to be broken from slipping endwise when the rail is sprung around, especially when breaking off five or six inches of the rail.

Another object is to provide a chisel holding attaclunent mounted upon the breaker, whicl'i chisel holding attachment is adjustable so as to permit the chisel to be set at any desired. angle, the chisel holding attachment furthermore doing away with the necessity of a workman holding the chisel while cutting the rail.

Still another object is to Pll'OVldQ a chisel holding 'attaclnnent which is entirely detachable from the breaker and which may be applied at either end of the breaker.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l is a. perspective view of my im-.

Serial No. GLLGSO.

proved rail breaking clamp in applied po sition;

Figure 2 is a sectional view through the supporting rail and the rail which is to be broken, showing my rail. breaking clamp thereon Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the rail breaking clamp showing the socket for the chisel;

Figure l is a perspective view of one of the clamping members 16 detached;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the U- shaped shim 17;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the filler blocks 21.

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates the body of the clamp, which is of any de" sired length but which is of sufficient length so as to secure a firm engagement with the supporting rail and with the rail to be bent. This body 10 is formed on its under face with a recess 11 in its middle adapted to engage over the head 0 of a rail C. The under face of the clamp on each side of the recess extends upward and outward, as at 12, and depending from the under face of the clamp are the oppositely disposed pairs of parallel lugs 13 which are apeutured at 14 for the passage of a pin 15. Clamping blocks 16 are adapted to be disposed between these pairs of cars 13 and to be forced against the web of the rail beneath the head thereof and over the base flange thereof, these clamping blocks being apertured for the passage of the pin 15, and obviously when these clamping blocks are forced into place and the pins 15 have locked the clamping blocks in place, the body 10 of the clamp will be rigidly engaged with the rail 0. Furthermore, the upper faces of the block 16 are downwardly and inwardly beveled or inclined when the blocks are in place so that these blocks will bear against the somewhat beveled under face of the head of the rail and will act to draw the body 10 downward upon the head of the rail and tightly clamp it in position.

The recess 11 is made large enough so as to receive the head of the largest possible rail or a rail the head of which has been on larged by t-raflic and in. order to fit smaller rails I provide the Ushaped shims 17 which fit over the head of the rail and fill up the space between the head of the rail and the wall of the recess 11.. By the use of these shims the bbdy lOniaybe applied tb rails of various sizes and to rails which have been damaged Olf ClQfOTIHQCl. By removing the pins 15 itis an easy matt erto slip the clamps 16 outward so as to permit the body to be slid along the rail C to any desiredposition or to be entirely remove-d5 from the rail. When these clamps 16, however, are in engagement with the rail C, the body 10 is rigidly held upon the railtrom any longitudinal movement or from any tilting movement The body 10 at its ends has the upwardly extending opposed jaws 18 which have the same length as the body and which have overhanging portions 19 which are adapted to overhang the base (Z of the rail D which is to be bent or broken. The overhanging portions 19 are longitudinally grooved upon their under faces, as at- 20, and disposed between the' base flange (Z of the rail and these overhanging portions 19 are the fillers 21. These are angula' in form so as to extend down over the side edges of th'eflana d also alongithe upper face at the flange, 7

these YfillersIa-re' provided with longitudinally extendin'g' ribs 22, fitting within the grooves 20., The fillers 21 are somewhat wedgersliaped-s'o thatwhen they are driven in theywill tightly clamp against the base cl ofrthe rail D and lock 'the rail firmly in placel b'etwllen the jaws-18. Set screws 23 pass.througlrapertures in the overhang ng portiofnslt) of .the jaws and pass through apertures 24, in the fillers; These set screws engage the base of the rail D to preyent the rail D which is to be broken from slipping endwise when the rail is sprung around. This slipping. is especially liable to occur when-breaking oil the or si" inches of the rail. Furthermore these set screws prevent the fillers from being lost when the device is shipped'irom one point to anotl'ier. It is to beunder stood that the fillers will be made inp-rop'er proportions to tit d'itlerent sized rails 01'. in other'words a pair-oil tillers will be made for "each size of rail and thus this breakenwill be adjustl-ibl'e tor all sizes of rail. it i The outer faces of the bodyltland con-- joined jaws 18 are angular and adapted to fit upon these angular faces is an angular basev'plate 25 apertured for the passage of a set screw 26, the body 10 being termed with a screw-threeded' aperture on each of its lateral faces for engagement with this set screw Preferably these apertures will be ilocatedjat the middle of thebod'y 10.

Attached to tlie bar-1e 25 at one end is" an upwardly extending wall -'or flange 27 hay- .ing an arcuatesl'itf28, andcoactmg with this plate 'or wallQ'i' and disposed against the outerjace thereof is a ch sel socket- 29 open at itson-ter and mner ends and which is pro gvided with asted bolt 30 carrying a wing nut 31. Adapted to be disposed Within this may be driven against this flange by means of a. maul or other suitable nnstrninent so as to fit a. kerf or notch in the flange which will sutlicient-ly weaken the flange. to permit: the rail to be bent and eventually broken. The arcuate slot 28 is curved on an arc whose center is approximately the point ol engage ment of the chisclwith the llange d and thus it will be obvious that the chisel may be held by this socket or holder 29 in any desired angularpositionwhere it is most convenient to bestruck by the workman. This socket 29 does away with the necessity of a worle man holding the chisel while another worle man drives the chisel inward against the flange. g

It will be noted that the body it] has the extremities of its jaws 1S and 1.9 spaced snt iiciently from each other so as to permit the rail D to beslipped into place laterally,- or the rail D may be slipped longitudinally into place between the jaws. After the rail D is in place the filler-s91 are driven inward and clamped tightly upon the rail by the set screws 23 which, as before stated, en gage thebase (Z of the rail. so as to hold this until eventually the rail may be broken otl p Of course, it is obvious that this may be used simply as a clamp for angling or bending the rail without the necessity of using! the chisel if desired; The chisel socket may be shifted into any desired angular position and then locked by means of the wing nut 31. It it be desired to remove the breaker from the rail D, it is only neccss21l' to. pull out the pins 15 which tllOllOi'lTlflllY held in place by cotter keys or any other suitable devices of this character. The breaker may be theirjshiiftfcd longitudinally along the rail D or lifted bodily oil therefrom. Th

.U-shaped shim l7 adapts this breaker for ment is madedetachal'ilc from the breaker so that should it become broken another one may be applied. The chisel. holder is made adjustable and: set at any angle desired and tluschisel attachment can be disposed at either end of the breaker for the reason that the cap screw 26 is disposed at the middle ot the body 10.

One of the improvements in the present cation, Serial No. 569,232, heretofore referred to, is that with this construction the clamps 16 are engaged with the rail C entirely above the base thereof so that there is no necessity of digging out ballast between the ties in order to dispose the clamp upon a rail. It is also to be noted that the clamp 16 is held in place by a pin 15 passing through a round hole instead of the clamp being held by a pin passing through an elongated hole, which is liable to let the clamp slip. Furthermore, the member 10 is clamped upon the rail by two set screws as well as by the fillers 21 so that there is no chance for the rail to slip endwise when the rail D is being bent or cut or otherwise acted upon. Furthermore, the fillers will not be lost.

I claim 1. A rail breaker comprising a body adapted to rest upon a supporting rail and be clamped thereon, the body being formed with opposed overhanging jaws, means for clamping a rail between said jaws, and a chisel holder mounted upon the body and adjustable in a vertical plane around a center approximately coincident with the corner of the flange of the last named rail.

2. A rail breaker comprising a body adapted to rest upon and be clamped on a supporting rail and having means for engaging and clamping upon the base of a rail to be broken, a chisel socket, and means mounted upon the body for adjustably sup porting said socket at either end of the body.

3. A rail breaker comprising a body adapted to rest upon and be clamped on a supporting rail and having means for engaging and clamping upon the base of a rail to be broken, a chisel socket, and means mounted upon the body for adjustably supporting said socket at either end of the body and including an outwardly projecting member having an arcuate slot, the socket having an adjusting bolt passing through said slot and adjustable therein, the slot be ing disposed approximately concentric to the edge of the base flange of the second named rail.

4. A rail breaker comprising a body; formed with a longitudinally extending recess on its bottom adapted to fit over the head of a supporting rail, the body on each side of said recess having depending ears, rail clamping members slidably mounted between said ears and adapted to engage beneath the head of the supporting rail and over the flange thereof, and means for holding said rail clamping members in position, the body being formed to support and clamp a rail to be broken.

5. A rail breaker comprising a body formed with a longitudinally extending recess on its under face adapted to embrace the head of a supporting rail, a Ushaped shim disposable in said recess and over the head of the supporting rail, and means adj ustably engaged with said body for engaging beneath the head of the supporting rail and holding the body in place thereon, the body having means for supporting and clamping a rail to be broken.

6. A rail breaker of the character described having a body formed with a longitudinally extending recess on its under face adapted to engage over the head of a rail, the under side of the body on each side of said recess being formed with downwardly depending, transversely perforated ears, rail clamping members disposable between said ears to extend beneath the head of the supporting rail and apertured to coincide with the apertures in said ears, and pins dispos able through said apertures to lock the rail clamping members in place, the clamping members being formed on their inner faces to engage against the under face of the head of the rail against the web thereof and over the base flange of the rail, the body being formed with means for supporting and clamping the rail to be broken thereonv 7. A breaker of the character described comprising a body formed with a longitudinally extending recess on its bottom adapted to engage over and embrace the head of a supporting rail, clamping members disposed on either side of said recess and en gaged with said body and adapted to engage beneath the head of a supporting rail, the body being formed with opposed upwardly and then inwardly extending jaws adapted to overhang the base of a rail to be broken, these jaws having vertical screw-threaded apertures, and fillers angular in cross section adapted to be disposed beneath said overhanging jaws or to engage against the base of a rail and formed with apertures registering with the apertures in the j aws. and set screws engageable with the jaws and with said fillers and engageable with the base of the mil.

8. A breaker of the character described comprising a body formed with a longitudinally extending recess on its bottom adapted to engage over and embrace the head of a supporting rail, clamping members dis-- posed on either side of said recess and engaged with said body and adapted to engage beneath the head of a supporting rail, the body being formed with opposed upwardly and then inwardly extending jaws adapted to overhang the base of a rail to be broken. these jaws having vertical screw-threaded apertures, fillers angular in cross section adapted to be disposed beneath said overhanging jaws to engage against the base of a rail and formed with apertures registering with the apertures in the jaws, the fillers being formed upon their free faces with longitudinally extending" ribs and "the jaws 0n their 'un'der' faces having longitudinally extendingrecesses to receive said l=1"'ibs,*and set screws engageable with the aws and W1tl1 said fillers and engage-able w1th the adapted toeinbrace the head of a'rail;1clainp- 1 side of said recess and adapted to engage.-

beneath the' head of the rail Jand 012111113 against the Webnnd'over theflangethereof, the upper face of the body being-formed with opposed inwardly extending overhang ing-j aws' adapted to receive'the base of the rail to be broken between them, fillers adapt ed to be disp0secl' between" the .nndel 'facles' of said jaws and the base of the rail to be broken',- a plate detachably engaged with the outer fac'e'of the body and having-1a flange at one endfornie'd 'with an arcuately extending-'slot and'a chisel socketihaving a stud bolt passing through said" "slot i whereby the= chisel socket maybe angularly adjusted:

10. The combination with a rail breaking cla1np,lof a chiselholder-mounted upon the clamp tand having -an adjust able chisel socket.

11;lhe'co1nb1nati0n with a rail breaking clanipyofa chisel holder, and means where i by the "chisel-"holder may-be n'lountedat either'en'dotthe clampysaidchisel Holden having an angularly adjustable chisel sockets-- 12.=A rail breaking clamp includingwi body having means whereby it maybe clamped upon a supportingruil and havingopposed jaws to receive and' clan'ip upon --a rail to be broken, the lateral outer" faces "of the body being angularun form, an an" gular platea adapted to rest upon said angular outer-faces, said plate being -apertured and thebo'dy on 'each face hav-ing'a screw-threaded bore to receive a mp screw adap'ted to exten'd through said plate, the

plate' a't one end havingm flange formed with an arcuate slot and a chisel socket having a stud-'bolt passlng through said slot, the studbolt permitting the socket'to be angularly adjusted."

In testimony"whereof 1 hereunto afiix-lny signature.-

J UNIUS E. BUSBY; 

